Deck 1: Operations and Supply Chain Strategy

Question 1

Emphasizing cost,quality,time,and flexibility is an effective strategic approach for operations management.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Mass customization involves keeping products in a standard format and then adding unique components for the individual customer at the last possible moment.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Functional strategies specify the core goals of areas like operations,marketing,finance,or IT.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Using a product promotion is a key operations strategy.

Question 5

Infrastructural decisions are operational decisions that represent long-term,high-capital-investment decisions that occur less frequently than many decisions but have a lasting impact on the organization.

Question 6

Delivery speed refers to delivering a product when promised,but not necessarily quickly.

Question 7

A structural decision might ask what metric should be used in a particular quality system.

Question 8

A mission statement is not an important aspect of explaining why a company exists.

Question 9

Competing on the basis of consistent quality involves continuously monitoring and evaluating processes to maximize errors.

Question 10

A structural decision might ask how much capacity a new plant will need.

Question 11

An infrastructural decision concerning production planning might ask what quantities of a particular item should be produced.

Question 12

Setting a competitive priority does not automatically ensure that goals will be achieved.

Question 13

A company's business strategy sets the broad guidelines for what the company will be doing for the near future (the next 6 to 18 months),the mid-range future (the next 2 to 5 years),and the distant future (5 or more years from the present).

Question 14

Manufacturing processes,like an assembly line,convert raw materials and inputs into finished products that have a physical,tangible form.

Question 15

Superior quality involves offering something that customers will pay a premium for,that is,something that outshines the competition.

Question 16

Flexibility refers to a strategy that seeks to provide a product or service that is less expensive than similar products or services offered by competitors.

Question 17

Strategic business decisions always have an optimal solution.

Question 18

Quality involves offering a product or service that is superior to the alternatives in the eyes of the customer.

Question 19

In a manufacturing process,an example of an input in the transformation process is either a good or service.

Question 20

Managing services is seen by many as being critical to the success of individual nations,industries,and businesses in the postindustrial economy of the twenty-first century.

Question 21

The service bundle is defined as all the value-added physical and intangible items that an organization provides to the customer.

Question 22

Measuring productivity in service process is considerably more straightforward than measuring productivity in manufacturing.

Question 23

Radio frequency identification is a technology that enables mass customization of a product using supply chain strengths.

Question 24

The issue of perishability is more crucial in producing goods than in providing a service.

Question 25

Customizing the service bundle helps to create more satisfied customers who are willing to pay a premium for a given service to get it exactly as they want it.

Question 26

Filling a customer's order quickly is an example of

A)Delivery speed
B)Development speed
C)Flexibility
D)Postponement
E)Immediate customization

Question 27

The distinction between manufacturing and service is much less ambiguous at the individual process level than at the organizational level.

Question 28

Which competitive priority is particularly important in a dynamic industry,such as electronics,computers,or fashion?

A)Low-cost operations
B)Supplier quality
C)Speed and reliability of delivery
D)Product development speed
E)Customer development practices

Question 29

Quality can be characterized by

A)Offering a product or service that is superior to the alternatives
B)Providing a product or service that is less expensive than similar products
C)Delivering a product when promised
D)Delivering a product or service faster than a competitor
E)The ability to adjust production to meet demand

Question 30

Which of the following terms does not describe one of the four broad categories of competitive priorities that a company can pursue?

A)Cost
B)Quality
C)Marketing
D)Time/delivery
E)Flexibility

Question 31

Strategic operations management focuses on how individual company operations,be it manufacturing,services,logistics,or purchasing,contribute to a company's success or failure.

Question 32

The relative rankings of what the company would like to achieve is

A)Competitive priorities
B)Competitive capabilities
C)Operational costs
D)Quality rankings
E)Operations strategy

Question 33

Which competitive priority does the range and variety of products refer to?

A)Cost
B)Quality
C)Time
D)Flexibility
E)Speed

Question 34

Which of the following is not generally a competitive priority a company can employ?

A)Low-cost operations
B)Supplier quality
C)Speed and reliability of delivery
D)Product development speed
E)Customer development practices

Question 35

Which of the following terms means offering something that customers will pay a premium for,or something that outshines the competition?

A)Flexibility
B)Superior quality
C)Exceptional reliability
D)Consistent quality
E)Low-cost supplier

Question 36

A firm or supply chain that is focused on low cost will make fundamentally different choices from those made by a company or supply chain that is focused on flexibility.

Question 37

The goal of individual companies is to manage their supply chain so that it provides a competitive edge that makes the company's product or service superior to that of another producer.

Question 38

A low-cost operations strategy can be achieved by all of the following except

A)Investing in new faster equipment
B)Reducing scrap
C)Finding new finance options
D)Eliminating waste
E)Eliminating unused capacity

Question 39

On-time delivery describes a company's ability to

A)Decrease the time between major product changes
B)Deliver a product when promised
C)Make a product that exactly fits customer needs
D)Handle a wide range of products without undue costs
E)Set short-term objectives

Question 40

In manufacturing,excessive customer contact allows a process to be more standardized than a process with no customer involvement.

Question 41

Which of the following is not a structural decision question?

A)How much capacity is needed?
B)In what order should particular products be scheduled?
C)What kind of technology should be used?
D)Where should facilities be located?
E)How many suppliers should be used?

Question 42

Logistics includes which of the following processes?

A)Managing flow of goods
B)Identifying material needs
C)Locating suppliers
D)Negotiating contracts
E)Tracing supplier performance

Question 43

A supply chain is a network of organizations that work together to convert and move goods from

A)Coast to coast
B)The raw materials stage to the end customer
C)Supplier to supplier
D)Producer to the distributor
E)One country to another

Question 44

Which of the following processes does sourcing or purchasing include?

A)Managing the flow of goods
B)Managing the storage of goods
C)Locating suppliers
D)Converting goods from raw materials to a form demanded by the customer
E)Inventory management

Question 45

The ability to produce a product in high volume at roughly the same cost as standard products but customized to individual customer tastes is

A)Flexibility
B)Volume flexibility
C)Variety
D)Postponement
E)Mass customization

Question 46

The ability to handle a wide range or assortment of products without undue costs is

A)Flexibility
B)Volume flexibility
C)Variety
D)Postponement
E)Mass customization

Question 47

Which of the following statements does not apply to a service?

A)A service is produced and consumed at the same time.
B)A service is almost impossible to inventory.
C)Many services lack transportability.
D)Services are easily standardized.
E)Production capacity in many services is perishable.

Question 48

Which item in the following list does not present a challenge in managing a supply chain?

A)Conflicting objectives
B)Mismatched communication systems
C)Differences in organizational culture
D)Lack of trust between partners
E)Common strategies

Question 49

Organizations are linked in a supply chain by the exchange or flow of all of the following except

A)Physical goods.
B)Information.
C)Brand identity.
D)Monetary exchange.
E)All of these options are exchanged in supply chains.

Question 50

A change in which of the following items is generally not considered in the transformation process?

A)A change in physical properties
B)A change in shape
C)A change in fixed dimensions
D)A change in surface finish
E)A change in materials

Question 51

Which of the following is an accurate statement about providing a service?

A)Services in general are less labor intensive than manufacturing.
B)It is relatively difficult to measure productivity in services.
C)Services produce a tangible output.
D)Manufacturing has more customer contact than services.
E)Services are easily inventoried.

Question 52

Price,product,place,and promotion are elements of

A)A business strategy
B)A marketing strategy
C)An operations strategy
D)A financial strategy
E)An aggressive strategy

Question 53

When more specific details are provided by breaking high-level business strategies,we are referring to

A)Mission statement
B)Functional strategy
C)Business strategy
D)Operations best practices
E)Competitive priorities

Question 54

Which of the following is an infrastructural decision question?

A)What worker skills are required?
B)How much should capacity be increased?
C)How much capacity is required?
D)What facility layout should be employed?
E)What suppliers should be integrated into the supply chain?

Question 55

Which of the following defines why a company exists,outlines a company's core values,and positions the company within its market?

A)Mission statement
B)Functional strategy
C)Business strategy
D)Operations best practices
E)Competitive priorities

Question 56

Which of the following business enterprises would not be classified as a service?

A)Consulting
B)Software development
C)Medical care
D)Producing MP3 players
E)Education

Question 57

Of the following phrases,which is one of the most distinctive features of a service?

A)Customer involvement in the production process
B)The lack of variability in the process
C)Site selection
D)The inability to customize the service bundle
E)The ability to easily standardize

Question 58

Long-term,high-capital-investment decisions are described as ____ decisions.

A)Operational
B)Infrastructural
C)Technological
D)Structural
E)Supply chain

Question 59

Which of the following is/are fundamental differences between services and manufacturing?

A)The nature of output.
B)The degree of customer contact.
C)Simultaneous production and consumption.
D)All of these options are fundamental differences.
E)None of these options are fundamental differences.

Question 60

When a retailer offers T-shirts in small,medium,large,and x-large,and in 25 colors,the competitive strategy they are using is

A)Flexibility
B)Volume flexibility
C)Variety
D)Postponement
E)Mass customization

Question 61

What is a service bundle? Give an example.

Question 62

Describe mass customization,and discuss a critical element when pursuing a customization strategy.

Question 63

Provide examples of the transformation process that occurs while transforming inputs to outputs.

Question 64

Provide a mission statement for a low-cost airline.

Question 65

Which of the following is a strategic issue in operations management?

A)Supply chain strategy
B)Demand forecasting
C)Simulation modeling
D)Lean practices
E)Project management

Question 66

Discuss three differences between services and manufacturing.

Question 67

Which of the following is not an advantage of radio frequency identification (RFID)?

A)Eliminates inspection.
B)Product can be scanned indirectly.
C)Multiple items can be scanned.
D)More information can be transmitted than by a bar code.
E)Capability to read and write to a tag.

Question 68

Discuss the natural tension that can occur between functions such as operations,marketing,and finance.

Question 69

Supply chain activities include all the following except

A)Purchasing of raw materials
B)Distribution of parts
C)Administration of customer relationships
D)Process selection
E)Distribution of finished goods

Question 70

Which of the following is not a tactical issue in operations management?

A)Process design
B)Supply chain management
C)Inventory management
D)Capacity planning
E)Continuous improvement

Question 71

Identify four major groups of competitive priorities in which a company can gain a competitive advantage by outperforming its competitors.Provide an example of a company with the competitive priority.

Question 72

Discuss two key aspects of quality involved in offering a superior product or service to a customer.

Question 73

Describe a simplified supply chain for personal computers.

Question 74

Core principles of operations include all the following except

A)Process design and analysis
B)Inventory management
C)Project management
D)Marketing management
E)Quality improvement tools